Genital modification and the trend for going completely nuts
As I am writing this I am conscious of the fact this is probably one more of our inane, light-headed, blonde-moment tendencies, as women, in the 21st century to become so completely self-absorbed and navel-gazing that all we can focus on is a particular body part of our female anatomy and the way we (and others) relate to it.
Take the V word for instance. The moment a journalist takes a troubling (and a little irreverent) look at what women do to their vaginas we know that we are firmly in the same popular media-shaped drive for unattainable and ill-defined beauty standards which has brought us onto a new culture of anorexia and zero-size models being called fat.
Andy Wright, at AlterNet, lists six things which may be ‘wrong’ with a woman’s vagina and the solutions available for it out there, all of which suggest that there could well be a conspiracy against women perpetrated by society with the view to taking advantage of their inherent insecurities and further screwing up their psyches.
None of this is helped by celebs like Jennifer Love Hewitt who in her new dating book, she apparently devotes a whole chapter to the subject which she mentioned on 'Lopez Tonight':
"After a breakup, a friend of mine Swarovski-crystalled my precious lady," she said. "It shined like a disco ball so I have a whole chapter in there on how women should vagazzle their vajayjays."
Or Meghan Fox who recently said in an interview, apropos of nothing: "Women hold the power because we have the vaginas. If you're in a heterosexual relationship and you're a female, you win."
Genitalia piercing and modification is not restricted, of course, to women. There are plenty of guys out there who sport a Prince Albert. I know we live in a free world and, as consenting adults we are all free to completely f**k up our lives. The point is that by focusing on our genitalia, whether we are men or women we simply distract ourselves from facing the real issues inside us which cause a certain amount of self-loathing, insecurity and fear and which are the real reasons we cannot form healthy relationships or enjoy life with our partners.
By thinking about this and discussing it we are taking the first step towards understanding the impulses which drive us and choosing not to be ruled by them.
